Commercialization: June 2005 Archives

From the NSSC News: "Protest Update On June 28, 2005 IBM notified the GAO that it was withdrawing its protest of the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC) procurement. The GAO has formally dismissed the IBM protest. NASA still has a protest from the QUESTeam (the Agency Proposal Team). The suspension of contract performance with CSC will continue pending resolution of this protest."

"NASA will start doing business the way the rest of the world does, if Mike Griffin has his way. Griffin addressed a sold out breakfast sponsored by the Space Transportation Association Tuesday morning in Washington, DC. The audience was a typical mixture of commercial representatives, members of Congress and their staff, space media, and NASA personnel."

Editor's note: How Griffin's StratComm/PAO folks can sit by as he rolls out this many juicy - and cogent - policy gems and underlying philosophies - and not have an accompanying press release, talking points, or verbatim transcript - utterly escapes me. Expecting the media to get his message out - intact and in context - is not a wise tactic to take.

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Editor's update: At a breakfast sponsored by the Space Transportation Association this morning on Capitol Hill, Mike Griffin's comments focused on commercialization. Among the items he mentioned was a BAA or some other procurement mechanism (they are not certain yet), which he expects to be out in early Fall 2005. This procurement will deal with commerical provders for both cargo and crew transport to and from the ISS. Griffin also spoke of the need for a umanned cargo version of the CEV. More to follow.

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7 up has a contest underway - the top prize: "One (1) ticket on one of the first ten commercial seats to sub-orbital space offered by the winner of the ANSARI X PRIZE or its affiliates ("Commercial Operator") at a time and location to be determined by the Commercial Operator. Actual trip details are contingent upon final itinerary established by the Commercial Operator."

"The Committee directs NASA to engage in a national awareness campaign."

Editor's note: It is not that I don't think NASA should do more to present its value to the taxpayers (they should), but I find it rather curious that Congress is directing NASA to market itself to the American public - and that Congress is doing so after years of chastising NASA for trying to market itself to Congress - directly or indirectly. This is really confusing given that Congress is supposed to represent the public in the first place.

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"Many self-professed "space geeks" say the possibility that entrepreneurs like Richard Branson of the Virgin Group may help regular people see the black sky - well, regular rich people, at least - has drawn away much of the excitement that government-financed human space efforts long enjoyed."

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"Three weeks of flight tests over the Mojave desert have demonstrated a breakthrough in how to safely launch future passenger-carrying rockets using a carrier aircraft. Transformational Space Corp. (t/Space) and Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites drop-tested dummy boosters from an aircraft using a technique that caused them to rotate towards vertical without requiring wings."

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"NASA and California-based Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) have signed a two-year agreement to research strategies for future human spaceflight systems for exploration missions and commercial space access."

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"On May 21st, a high altitude balloon platform was flown to the edge of space. This mission, named Away 26, was flown by JP Aerospace of Rancho Cordova, California. In addition to it's scientific and research duties, Away 26 served as a billboard at the edge of space. "Some companies like to advertise on race cars, I like to use the planet Earth". Says John Powell, President of JP Aerospace."

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